I've been thinking about replacing the disposable paper products I use (i.e. toilet paper, napkins, tampons, etc.) with reusable alternatives, to reduce costs around the house and because of the negative impact on the environment those disposables have. But then I was wondering, is it really that much better for the environment if you end up doing more laundry? There's the issue of water and electricity usage at hand, and I'm not sure how bad the waste water is. I'd probably end up doing one additional medium-sized load of laundry every other day. Does anyone have any resources that would help me answer my question? (Opinions are welcome too, of course.)

Thanks in advance :p ,

~NS~

oooohhh groosss reusable toilet paper

I'd say switching to cloth napkins would be a good change. You can use them several times before you have to wash them (unless you happen to be really messy). Just wash them with your other towels/kitchen laundry. No extra soap/water required.

Have you heard of glad rags? They're a cute alternative to disposable feminine products during your "moon time" :) If you rinse them out, you can wash them with your jeans so you don't have to do a separate load of laundry just for them. http://www.gladrags.com

I've never heard of reusable tampons...

how about hemp toilet paper and napkins?

http://www.seventhgeneration.com/page.asp?unitid=534

I use the seventh generation products. I'm sorry, but I checked out the washable/reusable sanitary napkins and all I can say is EW! I don't think I could do it...

I have reusable napkins, and I'd wager that the "extra" water you use is nil. It's not like you're going to fill an entire washer with napkins, you know? I have about 4 sets of them, about 20 napkins total, and I've definitely not seen an increase in the amount of laundry I do. :p Plus, you can line dry them if you want (especially in the summer), reducing the amount of electricity you use with the dryer...my guess is that this is quite a bit more environmentally sound than the WHOLE process of harvesting, bleaching, manufacturing, shipping and then landfilling of paper towels and napkins.

the water used be municipalities is FAR less than that used by agriculture. and by going veg*n, you drastically reduce the use of water for agriculture. so despite the fact that you might be using a little more water to wash the napkins, you're already helping to save a great deal of water - and reducing unnecessary trash is even better.

then again, you can just not buy/use any kind of napkins like me. who needs a napkin? pfft heh.

Originally posted by CaptainSwab
I've never heard of reusable tampons...

Ever heard of the "keeper" ?

It's not a tampon, but it has the same function.

I just heard about a tampon-like thing that's a sponge. It's reuseable and you just rinse it out after. It costs about $8 (canadian) and will last you for years.

I'm wanting to switch to the reusable Glad Rags napkins, but it's kinda on the expensive side to start. Thank goodness for tax refunds! *lol*

Nightshade,

Cloth napkins are *definitely* more enviro-friendly than paper ones, and it shouldn't increase your laundry any (I wash mine with my towels).

Someone mentioned the "keeper" up there -- it's fabulous! I've been using it for over three years now, and it should last me another 10 more. It's comfortable, convenient, and cheap ($30 for 10 years or more! It's much less than the money you'd spend on disposables). I think I'll stop before I sound too much like a commercial...

Mskedi

a sock is real cheap and works just fine
u just fold it and place in yer undies and rinse when needed

what the heck are glad rags and how does this 'keeper' work?

I ran out of papertowels 2 weeks ago and decided to try using cloth napkins and rags, but it was too hard. I had so much laundry to do, mainly because of my darn peeing/puking/pooping dog. I just had to go out and get more papertowels, but this time I spent 10 cents extra and got the ones made out of recycled paper. I'm not a good environmentalist.

Shouldn't we be throwing every peice of paper we can in the solid waste dump? Before anyone blows a gasket, consider this, we take carbon out of the ground in the form of oil and it ends up as a greenhouse gas, CO2. Trees take this carbon out of the air and turn it into wood, we should chop down the tree and bury it in the ground and plant a new tree. Or use more wood in construction, railway ties etc. and bury paper in the land fill. As long as we plant new trees, and use wood in ways that doesn't return the carbon to the atmosphere, ie burning, it should reduce the greenhouse gases.

i used regular store bought pads and tampons for some time. later on i switched to homemade cloth pads and the keeper. they were both much better than the past products. the cloth pads were especially comfortable. they were also more absorbant. they are very easy to make our of old flannel pajamas and soft terry cloth towels. i would really recommend them to anyone.